Review of The Machinist (2004) by Mark D — 05 Jan 2013

A study in what guilt can do to someone. Deep, dark, guilt of a kind that tears at you until you just can't take it anymore.

But lets get back to the basics. First we have an almost unrecognizable Christian Bale, who apparently lost in the neighborhood of 50-75#'s for this role. It's quite startling to see.

He's really the only character of consequence in the movie, but he's quite amazing, so it works.

The poor guy has a serious case of insomnia, as well as numerous other OCD type issues. He's basically going insane.

As the viewer, we have all sorts of questions right from the beginning. Why can't he sleep? Why has he lost so much weight? Why is he driving out to the airport diner? Why? Why? Why?

I found it to be a very well-made movie, with a decent reveal of the answers, and exactly what is really going on.

Sure, there's a few things that don't make sense, or are left unresolved, but the overall story, and the message it presents, is a sound one.

Note: Starting with this review I am giving in and going with the stupid 5-star format of flixster. I don't like it, but it's not worth complaining anymore about.